Book Crack

That's they only way I can describe the Twilight books. It's seriously like drugs.

I'm an avid reader, so I'm not sure why it took so long to get me into that series. I guess I didn't really want to (I'm not really a vampire person), but after so so many people loved the books I figured they were on to something.

Another problem was that I knew once I started reading them they would take over my life. And indeed, they have!

I got Twilight for Christmas, finished it 2 days later and am now done with the second book that I got from Carla last night. It is over 550 pages, and I read it in less than 1 day. However I've done nothing but read since I got it. And sleep a little. I wake up and want to read. I go to bed and want to read. I want to spend every minute of my time reading.

It's been a while since I've felt this way about a book. I think the last one was The Da Vinci Code, I could not ( seriously, could not) put that book down. I don't think this is Jimmy's favorite time, me in the middle of books I can't put down. I basically pay no attention to him ( or anything else for that matter) until I'm done.

But I love it. This is why I read, books like this that reel you in and don't let go until you've completed the story. Books that have you thinking about them hours after you have stopped reading. Those are my favorite.

I'm hoping to finish the series by the end of the week, and be able to focus on and get back to real life!

Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam

I couldn't believe that we had been in our new ward for nearly 2 months and hadn't been given callings yet.

Well, that changed at last night. Back to primary I go! Except this time, teaching Sunbeams! Yikes! As soon as our Bishop said that I had flashes of being in primary in my old ward. One year, there were like 8 sunbeams ( no joke) and that poor teacher. I remember watching her as she struggled to squish 4 wiggly little kids on her lap because they all wanted to sit with her.

All and all though I think it will be fun. The Bishop said that Jimmy had been requested in primary as well, but he couldn't remember for what class so he hasn't been technically called yet. It will be fun for both of us to be in primary together though.

I think it's funny that I keep getting callings that have to do with working with kids. I'm just really not a kid person, I don't know what to do with them. But I guess that is why I keep getting these callings, to help prepare me for the future.

I helped in Nursery once in our old ward once. Not to toot my own horn, but I was a pretty big smash there! By the end of the hour I had kids wanting to play with me and sit in my lap and everything. Jimmy said that experience gave him hope for our future children!

We'll see how this all goes!

Emotional Rollercoaster

These past few weeks have been a little rough for me (here is a depressing post with what is really going on in my life Jessie!).

On Thursday we had a company meeting to discuss the future of our travel agency. We aren't in real trouble, but we've taken a hit like everybody else due to the crappy economy. So, for the next 90 days everyone is taking a mandatory pay cut. Yay! Isn't that what everyone wants to hear a week before Christmas? They aren't starting it until mid January, but still. It definitely put a dark rain cloud over the office. It's not like travel agents make a ton of money to begin with! I am lucky to even have a job though, and I keep telling myself that.

The weather here has been so cold recently, our heat has been on 24/7. Every time I turn it on I see dollar bills floating away from me! But when it's in the 30's, that's a little much for us to deal with.

Recently I've started to wonder if moving into our new place was the smartest idea for us. Jimmy calls me a worrier, and well I am. I can admit it. I do absolutely love our new set up, but we are paying a lot more than we were before. A lot more. We had a pretty sweet deal in our other house. It was tiny and had no appliances, but it was affordable with money to spare.

Debbie is in town for Christmas and it's always nice to have a friend back. On Saturday night Carla, Debbie and I snuggled up on the couch ( with annoying dogs crawling all over us) and watched a Christmas movie together. We ate cookies, laughed and just had a great time. I miss doing things like that. The Gerbers are an interesting bunch, but I have so much fun with them. It reminds me of the old times before boys and bills where we would just hang out every night and play games.

Jimmy is off for the next 2 weeks. Yep, off from school, off from work ( unless they call him in). Just off. I can't help but be just a little jealous. Just a little. I'm working the day before Christmas, and had to fight tooth and nail to get the day after off. I think I have it off, but we all know what happened with the day after Thanksgiving, so everyone keep your fingers crossed!

And lastly, I saved a blog! Robbie went to delete his ( not like he writes in it anymore anyway) when he saw my post about how I was reading his blog for hours the other day. When he saw that it inspired him to keep it around a little longer.

Misc.

Does anyone else want to dance in the streets when they see the current gas prices? Good grief! I can't believe how low they are, when they were so high just a few months ago.

As someone who drives (a lot), the gas prices really effect me and our budget. So to be able to fill up my tank for less than $20 is truly amazing. In the summer time it was about $50 to fill up my tank. I can't believe I'm paying less than half that now.

On another note, we got our Christmas tree last night and it looks amazing! Since we have these high vaulted ceilings in our house, we got a 7-8 footer instead of the normal 5-6 footer. It is pretty big. So big the garland that we have only wrapped around it twice! It is set up by the window, so when people walk by the see the twinkling lights. I've always always wanted to do that.

We even got Robbie to help put up some ornaments. He pretends that he doesn't care about Christmas trees and such, but I know better! He is just as excited to have our house looking festive as I am.

No offense to those who have fake trees, but I don't know how you do it. I love my real tree. I know they are pain in the but ( there are needles everywhere already), but I think they are so so worth it. I'll have a real tree until I'm physically too old to go get one!

And lastly, in baseball news people are going all over the place! So far I'm not too upset/excited about any of the trades, but that could all change quickly. There are talks of Manny Ramirez going to the Yankees. If that were to happen, I would just die. Literally. I know the Red Sox chose to let him go ( and can anyone blame them?), but the last thing I want is an all star player like that going to my most hated team. Ugh. The thought of Manny and Crap Rod ( otherwise known as A Rod) batting back to back makes me physically ill. Everyone cross your fingers that this one doesn't come to fruition!

If you Don't use it, you Loose it

Well, I think it's safe to say that my geography skills have plummeted significantly since the end of my schooling. Plummeted so much that it's gotten embarrassing to tell people what my major was.

In my quest to remain entertained at work, I found a geography game on Trip Advisor. There were some questions I was so far off on it's insane. I can only make it to the "medium" level. For the average Joe that might be acceptable, but for someone who poured tons of time and effort to graduate with a degree in geography it's just plain sad.

Perhaps it's me being paranoid, but I used to have an excellent memory. I've noticed with my aging that I'm not recalling things as easily as I used to. Maybe it's my fear of getting older and I'm psyching myself out? Or maybe my memory is really diminishing. Is your memory supposed to start going down hill at age 24? At this rate I wont' even be able to remember my own name at 50!

So, my mid December/ New Years resolution will be to by an atlas and get cracking. Hopefully this will make me feel like my college education wasn't completely in vain. If nothing else it will help me win when I play trivia games.

The Grass is Always Greener

I consider myself pretty good at being able to see my own faults. Not to toot my own horn here, but I can kinda step out of my body and see that some of the stuff I do and the way I think is plain stupid!

So I'm able to admit that I have a serious grass is always greener complex. I'm not sure where I picked that up, but it is here for sure.

It's been so so slow at work recently that I just want to die. I've googled everyone I know, I've made lists of things to do, I've played geography games on the internet. I'm just about ready to start writing a book or something. Today, I was reading old posts on Robbie's Blog from like January just to pass the time. That right there shows my desperation for something to do (just kidding Robbie! I loved reading your blog...when you actually wrote in it).

But wasn't it just a few months ago when I was complaining that work was so nuts I thought I was going to die? I'd go to work every day and pray for a free minute to catch my breath. Or even run to the bathroom!

When it's winter, I miss summer. When it's summer I miss winter.

I'm thinking this is a normal thing. People with straight hair want curly hair, people with curly hair want straight hair. Maybe it's just human nature to always want what you don't have.

It sure is irritating though! Why can't I ever just be satisfied with how things are in the present?

On a different note, Craig's family is coming out for Christmas and will be staying with us a couple of days before they can get into a hotel. Call me crazy, but I'm excited about this. Growing up, we never had people stay at our house for Holidays or anything. Maybe that's because no one in my family ever came to visit! I think having family in town staying with you will just add to the whole Christmas experience.

It's also nice to have room for people at our house. In our old house we could barely move, otherwise fit more people in there. I love that when someone comes to visit, we can set them up.

Christmas Drain

I'm sure we like everyone else we decided we wouldn't spend a lot on Christmas this year. Well, I'm not too sure that idea is still on the table anymore. I've been a shopping fiend recently. I'm spending money left and right. Today I spent $13 on stuff to wrap presents with. As I walked out the store I thought about it. $13 on wrapping paper and bows? It's nuts! No one pays attention to it and it just gets ripped off anyways!

I've found I don't feel so bad about spending money when I shop in increments. $20 here, $30 there. It requires more trips, but doesn't hurt as much when I'm at the register.

I think another part of my problem is that I'm a procrastinator when it comes to Christmas shopping ( is anyone surprised at this?). So on Dec 23rd when there are people on my list I need to get done I just buy the first thing I see that could be useful to them, regardless of cost. Each year I vow to be like Carla, who has her shopping done by Nov 1st. But sure enough I end up wandering desperately through Target the weekend before Christmas ready to buy anything I see.

I guess it is all part of the Christmas experience though!

Married, Yet Still a Woman

This might be a bit of a controversial post, but I'm ok with that. I've gotta get something out there and see if I'm the only one who thinks this way.

This weekend was my company holiday party. So, Ashley and I (Jimmy basically didn't want to come, which I'm ok with)drove to the Country Club dressed to the 9's in our cocktail attire ready for some free food and a good time.

The receptionist for my building came into the party accompanied by her son. Her son happens to be good looking, 27 ish and a marine to boot. They didn't sit at our table, but they sat at one near us. I looked over and caught the good looking marine man looking at us, so I smiled at him and just shrugged it off.

Today, back at work the office is a buzz about the Christmas Party. When I walked in, the receptionist told me that her son thought I was "absolutely breathe taking" and was very disappointed when she told him I'm married.

This information totally made my day. Is it just me or is it really nice to hear that other men (especially good looking ones) think you are attractive? I think it might just be me, because anyone I've shared info like this in the past quickly proceeds to tell me that I'm married. I am? No way, thanks for the info!

Just because I'm married doesn't mean I'm dead. I am after all still a woman. And what woman doesn't like to hear that someone thinks she is " breathe taking" ?

This doesn't mean that my husband doesn't tell me nice things, but can you ever be given too many compliments? This also doesn't mean that I don't think my husband is totally hot, because he is. Hotter than the marine man in my opinion. It just means that I like to be told someone thinks I'm attractive just as much as the next person.

I see no wrong in being excited about my compliment. Am I alone on this one? Other married women out there, what do you think?

Husband Tag ( thanks Meg!)

1.Where did I meet my husband? At a young adult ward activity (see it pays to go to those things!)

2.How long did you date before getting married? Approximately 1 year and 3 months

3.How long have you been married? 3 years next month

4.What does he do that surprises you? He jumps out of places and scares me.IE the other day when he hopped out of our closet. It took me like 5 min to catch my breath.

5.What is your favorite feature of his? His eyes. The color, the shape,the eyelashes. The whole thing.

6.What is his best quality? Hard to pick just one... I like that he's a goofball. Like even though he looks like a total white boy when he dances, that doesn't stop him!

7.Does he have a nickname for you? Peach, pootie, pootie chop... I could go on for a while on this one. He only calls me Liz when he is mad at me.

8.What is his favorite food? BBQ chicken pizza from CPK and orange rolls to name a few.

9.What is his favorite sport? I think to play, baseball ( or softball), but to watch football

10.When did you first kiss? On like our second date infront of Carla's old house.

11.What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? We don't do a whole lot, but I like it when we go shopping together. Or go to dinner together.

12.Do you have any children? Not yet

13.Does he have any hidden talents? Yes he does an amazing voice impression of Forrest Gump. And he can play video games for like 7 hours without eating or going to the bathroom.

14.How old is he? 28

15.What is his favorite music? Anything on KROQ. That is always the station he goes to first.

16.What do you admire about him? I admire his ability to put it all out there. If he thinks he is being wronged by someone, he will let them know!

17.What is his favorite color? I think blue

18.Will he read this? Probably not. He hates my blog! :)

19.Who said "I love you" First? He said it first but I think I felt it first. I was just waiting for him to say it so I could say it back.

20.Who do you tag? whoever wants to take the time to do it and have it in their blurb book!!!

A Little Perspective

Well, I'm done PMS'ing, and things don't seem as bad as they did in my post about my bad day.

I did work on Friday, and I didn't do a single thing. I read my book the whole time. There wasn't a single thing to do. So I read my book for 5 hours, but got paid for working for 8. Not really a bad deal when you think about it. I probably would've been just sitting around doing nothing at home anyways.

When it comes down to it, at least I have a job. Yes I hate it 90% of the time, but I could have no job at all like so many people right now.

There is nothing like Thanksgiving to make you realize how much you truly do have. As bad as life seems sometimes, it could always be worse.

And the fact that I'm thinking this on a Monday, by far my most hated day of the week is really something.

On a different note I got Jimmy to help me with Christmas decorations last night, so our house is looking fun and festive! Yay!

Something Nice to Come Home to

On Wednesday after yet another long day at work I started my drive home. I was thinking about all the stuff I had to do around the house when I got home, and it was enough to make me want to turn my car around and drive back to work!

When I got home, the house was quiet and there was no one there. I went into our bedroom, and it was spotless! Jimmy had cleaned it!

I went to gather up the laundry, but it was already done! Jimmy had done it!

I went to get something to eat out of baron fridge (we were well over due for some grocery shopping), and it was fully stocked! Jimmy had gone shopping!

I couldn't believe it. My mood instantly lifted and was so excited to not have to do those things.

I felt a wave of appreciation for my husband. He works 25 ish hours a week, he is taking 18 units in school, and managed to shop, clean and fold so I wouldn't have to.

Sometimes with the stress of work and life it's easy to forget how lucky I really am.

Bad Day

This day has been so awful, I can't even begin. I have a feeling this post is going to get pretty negative, so be forewarned.

Does anyone else wake up sometimes and think "How the heck did I end up here?" I find myself thinking that all the time recently. I have been blessed with a lot of things, but recently I can't help but wonder what happened along the way. I went from a starry eyed optimistic person with the world at my feet to someone who is bitter and filled with despair more often then I'd like to admit.

Today is one of those days I can say I absolutely hate my job. Hate it. Here is a typical thing that happened today. I was the only one in my dept to actually request off this Friday. But somehow another girl gets it off, the other girl gets to work in the morning when I would prefer to work (If I have to work at all), and I'm closing up shop. Why you ask? Got me. This is just what I do here. I've been a pee on for over a year now, and it is so so old.

I haven't liked my job for quite sometime, but recently I find myself watching gardeners or trash men and wishing I could trade places with them. Or seeing people running and thinking about how freeing it would be to just run at 9am on a Tuesday morning. And I am not a runner, so that right there says something.

I can't say its anyone's fault but my own. I go through life not saying what I really feel and trying not to upset anyone. If I do upset someone, I dwell on it for days and try to figure out how to make it better. I need to be honest with what I want, and I what I think is fair. I'm just not good at that.I hate confrontation and always have. Anyone have any pointers on how to get over that? I'd love to hear them!

Ode to my Husband

I think I'll stop and take a minute to talk about what makes me love Jimmy.

There are some qualities he has that still proceed to shock and awe me.

He never thinks twice about helping some one in need. Be it a stranger, or his own flesh and blood. It doesn't matter if it's midnight, or 8am if you need help he will be there with bells on.

For example a quite some time ago we were on a road trip and stopped to get some food. As we went to leave the restaurant, a woman was trying to help her husband (who was quite elderly and larger than her) into the car. Seeing them struggle, I continued to walk by them thinking "man someone should help them". Not Jimmy though. He ran over there and jumped right in with no hesitation. It's a perfect example of us. I think about the fact that I should help someone, he just does it.

Another thing about him that I love is that he always wants to cuddle. Always. I never have to talk him into it, even if he is watching sports. He is always up for a little snuggle. He usually wants to cuddle more than I do ( I like my space while I sleep).

Even when he is grouchy (which happnes once in a while), he doesn't stay that way for very long. And he still has a sense of humor about things despite his grumpy mood.

He watches stupid shows with me, even if there is something on he'd much rather watch. For example he watched 90210 with me this week. Even I can admit that show is complete crap, but I still like to watch it. And he'll watch it right along with me, even though he hates it. He does it because he likes to spend time with me. It doesn't matter what we are doing. This Sunday we pretty much did all the things I wanted to do. We watched what I wanted and went where I wanted to go.

He may not be the most sensitive person. And he doesn't always show his feelings in conventional way. But he shows them in his own way. And I think I like that even better.

Pooped on!

One of the few things I like about my job is that it is in this nice little shopping area in Montrose. It's not a huge company, and it's not in a huge sky rise type building. The street is lined with little shops and trees and it's really pleasant to walk around.

I was sitting on a bench with my co worker people watching like we often do, and then splat! Bird poop, right on me! Great. As if Mondays weren't bad enough. Although it could've been much worse. I had my hands folded in my lap, and it happened to land right on my hand. About 2 inches in any direction and it would've been on my pants. Or it could've been on my head or something! So I just washed it off and went about my business.

People in my office kept telling me it's supposed to be good luck to get pooped on. We'll see!

The Competitive Gene

Jimmy and I always joke that we are like polar opposites. Usually it causes problems, but with some qualities I think that is good thing. Like competitiveness for example.

We played a game at my house the other night, and it got pretty out of hand. Not that this is the first time that I've seen this happen with a game. But this time in particular left me contemplating how something that started off as "fun" got so heated.

Anyone who knows Jimmy knows that playing most games for him is like competing in the Olympics. Winning is a must. He is not always like this, I've seen him lose at a game and be perfectly fine with it. I think a huge part of it depends on who is he playing with and who he is playing against.

I on the other hand lose all the time. I've always been that way. I'm seriously athletically challenged, so I started losing at a young age. Sometimes it bothers me, but most of the time I'm ok with it.

If it comes down to a choice between me losing or everyone having fun I'd rather everyone have fun. Games are one of those things where I think the experience of playing is more important that the outcome.

Although I don't think my perspective is that great either. I have no competitive drive. I'm scared to get out there and go after what I want, or even try. I'm ok with just conceding and saying " oh well" and moving on.

So which is better? The person that dives in with all their might and plays like it's do or die? Or the person who is ok with just coasting along, and shirks away from competition? I think neither. A nice mix of both would be ideal, so hopefully one of our offspring will inherit that.

We had a chat with our home teacher a month or so ago about what our relationship would be like if we were exactly like each other. I can't imagine if we were both like me. Nothing would ever get done, decisions would never get made and we would just dance around our issues instead of talking about them. Or what if we were both like Jimmy? We'd both be angry, short fused, grouchy, and be constantly competing with each other. A relationship with two Jimmys? Now that is a scary thought...

The Band of Brothers and Me

This past weekend I had the pleasure of spending some time with Jimmy and his brothers. Craig, his brother from Arizona stayed with us for Friday and Saturday night. So me, in a house with 3 Cuillard boys. Yay! It wasn't all that bad really. Once you get used to the fact that everything out of Craig's mouth is either

a. Offensive
b. Embarrassing
c. A complete lie
or
d. Makes no sense what so ever

He is slightly entertaining, in small increments that is. :) On Saturday night Scott came over to play cards, so me in a house with 4 Cuillard boys. The numbers seemed to be increasing rapidly!

Luckily Tessa came over to have some needed girl time. We went to dinner and went in the spa to escape the seemingly never-ending stream of male chit chat.

However this weekend was definite learning experience. I learned a few new nick names for breasts, that flipping off a Cuillard has its consequences, and that I really more than ever want to have girls.

Thanksgiving Countdown, and Other Thoughts

It's coming in 17 days! I'm not sure if I'm more excited about the 4 day binge fest or about the 4 days off from work! Probably both. Due to the fact that my company hates Veterans, we will be open tomorrow on Veterans day.

My company basically hates holidays in general I think. We get Christmas, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day and Labor Day. That's it. 4 paid holidays in a 365 day span. We don't even get the day after Thanksgiving off, but I'm taking it off anyways.

I remember my good old school days when we got tons of holidays off all the time. I guess it could definitley be worse, I could work at the grocery store where they are open 364 days a year ( maybe even 365 now, I'm not sure).

I find myself pondering a lot recently. About a whole slew of things. Sometimes I think the way life works is so odd. We ( if you are one of the unlucky ones who has to) work 40 plus hours a week every week. Most of us are away from our homes more often then we are there. And when we are there, we are sleeping 90% of the time. And we just keep working until...what? We are either independently wealthy or 80 years old? Ugh. To think about it in those kinds of terms is grim thought. Especially when you are 24 and might have another 56 years of working ahead of you. I guess if you have a job you like then you don't mind the time away from your home and family. However I don't think the majority of people feel that way.

So then, you have a weekend. 2 days that you need to cram all your errand running, relaxing and projects into. If you are LDS you really have 1 day. Who decided this schedule? Work 5 days, have off 2 days? It seems a little lopsided to me. Jimmy is quick to tell me that back in the yester years it was work 6 days, have 1 day off. For some reason that doesn't make me feel much better.

I mean when you think about the whole working thing, its nuts really. I mean the amount of time someone will spend working in their life, it's absurd. Yet practically everyone does it. When you have bills to pay, you don't have much of a choice. It makes me think I should've married for money! ( just kidding hun! well sort of...)

There is one thing I can say for working though; it gives you a sense of accomplishment each day. And it makes you truly cherish the time you have off. Friday nights I'm on cloud nine I'm so excited for those 2 days off. Even if I have absolutely nothing going on, it's 2 days I don't have to go to work so that is good enough for me.

On a slightly different note, how strange is it that you don't appreciate things until they are gone? I mean what is the point of that really? You have something, be it a possession, a person, youth etc. You take it for granted while you have it, then usually one day you lose it/her/him. So then you finally realize how great that thing was, but by that point it's gone. So you can't do anything about it. Usually you can't get it back, so you are just left with a pining/desiring of something you once had. Is there are purpose of that? I guess it is just a learning experience, but a crappy one still.

Side Note: " It's Over, Finally"

As soon as I wrote that post I found out the 1000's of gays/lesbians were marching to the LA Temple in protest. I understand that they are upset, and that they don't know what to do. But I don't think blaming LDS people is the answer. I don't doubt that if President Monson hadn't asked us to support Prop 8 that it would've passed. So I see why their frustration is fueled at us.

However if Prop 8 were to not pass do you think 1000's of LDS people would march angrily to gay and lesbian centers and wreak such havoc that they would be forced to close?

Do you think LDS church and it's people would post websites saying that gay people are an abomination and stole our right to have marriage remain between a man and a woman? Or make offensive commercials or call all LDS people to arms against Homosexuals?

I understand that this is heated, but some things are below the belt. They seem to forget that we didn't do anything wrong here.

We held up "Yes on Prop 8" signs, and when the time came we went to the polls and won. We only peacefully assembled and voted, two things that our US Constitution guarantees everyone the right to do.

Yet some in the homosexual community have lashed out, at us in particular for having our own opinion. Instead of being decent about it, they are spreading falsehoods about our church far and wide. Anyone who knows our church history knows that Mormons being under fire and bullied for believing how they choose sounds slightly familiar...

It's Over, Finally!

I'm sure many others feel the same way, but I'm sooooo glad this election is over! No more political signs or commercials...ahh its wonderful. I've been ready for this election to be done for a long time.

My favorite part of election time is the outrageous ranting of uneducated people. I feel like I heard a lot more of that this election than I did the last one.

Some of the things people told me, oh boy. Obama is the most corrupt man in the world and is out to destroy the country. Mc Cain hates homosexuals and doesn't care about anyone but rich white people. And sure enough, all this ranting came from people who if they told me the sky is blue I wouldn't believe them because of their long track record of having absolutely no idea what they are talking about.

I don't think how I voted is of particular importance, but I think anyone can see that both candidates had pros as well as cons. So anyone telling me that one is sent from God and the other is a messenger of the devil just sounds down right stupid.

On the election note I am relieved that Prop 8 passed. However I wish I could be happier about it. I truly struggled with this one. I struggled through the whole election, and I'm struggling with the aftermath now. I was watching the news last night and I saw gay people marching in LA to show how unhappy they are with the outcome. They showed this lady (who was very clearly a lesbian) crying, and it just about ripped my heart out. I just want everyone to be happy. I hate that I helped to upset so many people. But I guess that is what politics is about. I understand why they want to get married, and I understand why they think they should be allowed to. However I still feel in my heart that gay marriage is not right. I have no problem with gay people and I admire their perseverance through this whole debate.

I look forward to moving on from this election to bigger and better things!

Klutz O Matic

I usually make fun of Jimmy because he is a major Klutz. He always seems to spill something. I tell him he should walk around with caution tape in his pocket so he can block off his frequent accidents. However since we have moved into our new house is clumsiness is rubbing off on me.

Last Tuesday morning when I stumbled out of bed I tripped over one of the many articles on our floor (our room is just a little messy right now) and fell into the bathroom door, hard. I hit it with my knee and instantly felt shooting pain. My knee got all swollen and I have this ugly bruise on it.

Then today, I was walking out to the garage to leave for work. There are about 3 stairs leading down from the house to the garage, and I missed the last one and completely ate it. Luckily Robbie's Mercedes Benz broke my fall. The car is ok, but I can't say the same for me. I fell off the stairs, bounced off his car and fell on the ground. My breakfast went flying. Ouch. I landed on my elbow, and now that doesn't feel very good right now.

Amidst these two falls that occurred in less than a weeks time, I've dropped numerous things as well. What the heck? I might have been a little clumsy before, but recently I'm the one who needs the caution tape.

On a side note, I played hand and foot every night this weekend ( Friday, Saturday and Sunday) and went 0 for 3. It's safe to say that game is not my strong point. It's hard enough to get someone to be on my team, now I'm going to start having to pay people!

Spell Check Spoiled

Writing in this blog has made me realize what an absolute horrible speller I am.

To my limited knowledge, there is no spell check feature in blogging. I know I could write my entries in Word first and spell check them there, but am too lazy to do that. So I am left to my own knowledge to help correct my many errors. So far, it has not worked so well. I can't even tell you how many typos/spelling errors I find in here as I read over my posts. I should start keep track, as it must be well within the high double digits. To make it even more disturbing, bad spellers are my pet peeve. I can't stand it when people can't spell simple words or use proper grammar.

What is the worst part about it is that I used to be an excellent speller. I even won a couple of in class spelling bees in Jr. High. So what happened to me?

I think a big part of my problem is typos rather than spelling. I'm just so used to typing something that slightly resembles a word and then having spell check fix it for me. I like to think that if I was handwriting this blog there wouldn't be so many errors, but I may be wrong.

I'm this way with my calculator too. I'm so dependent on it that I lost the ability to do simple arithmetic. If I have to do any kind of addition or subtraction that I can't do in my head within 2 seconds I reach for my trusty calculator.

I can't help but wonder what is next for humans to become co dependent on? There are so many things we used to do on our own that we now completely depend on a machine for.

On that note, I used my dishwasher for the first time last night and absolutely love it. My days of hand washing mountains of dishes are over! :)

Oh SO Excited!

Halloween is coming and I can't wait! I wake up each morning and countdown in my head until it's here. Based on my excitement you'd think I had some amazing plans for the day or something. Nope. I have absolutely no plans. I'm working during the day, and probably sitting at home during the night. I just get excited for holidays.

Jimmy's birthday is the next day, Nov 1st and I'm super excited for that too. Each day I tell Jimmy how many days left until his b-day. Frankly, he seems like he couldn't care less. I am most definately more excited for his b-day than he is.

I'm like this with every Holiday. Christmas, Thanksgiving, 4th of July, Presidents day ( ok probably not Presidents day). I just get super excited, like a kid in a candy store. Christmas Eve I can't even sleep, I'm just too pumped. I wake up Christmas morning at like 6am and drag (literally) Jimmy out of bed to open presents. Anyone who knows him knows that this does not please him. But he is a trooper and gets up with me anyways. You'd think as I get older this excitement would die down, but so far it hasn't. And I honestly hope it never does. I think my sheer excitement over the small things adds to my appreciation of life.

Monday, Again.

Is it just me or are Mondays a total nightmare? When my alarm goes off on Monday morning, this overwhelming dread comes over me. The way I feel you'd think I'm getting up to march off to my death rather than go to work. I consider myself a pretty optimistic person, but on Monday morning a black cloud hangs over my head.

I feel like I go to bed on Friday night and wake up on Monday morning and the whole weekend was a figment of my imagination. I remember back before I joined the corporate world and actually liked Mondays.

I don't think it helps that I have to get up and Jimmy is still tucked in bed next to me, snoozing away. In fact, I know it doesn't help. I see him all cozy and snug and I just curse my life!

This feeling goes away by lunch time on Monday. The rest of the week isn't so bad (usually) and my optimism returns.

The especially high level of Monday hatred I feel today is influenced by my less than fun weekend. Moving sucked big time. Thank you to all who helped us, I know it wasn't a whole lot of fun for you guys either. We really appreciate it! It amazed me that people who we hardly know sacrificed their Saturday morning to help carry heavy stuff. My allergies were in full affect on Saturday and I thought I was going to die like 3/4ths of the day. This weekend was not even close to resembling relaxing. I need another couple of days off to recover from my weekend!

Movin' on Up!

We are moving and tomorrow is the big day! I'm not so excited about the moving part, but the there after will be so nice. We will have a washer and dryer, dishwasher, and the ability to fit more than 5 people in our house at the same time! The bedroom in the place we are in now could practically fit into the closet of our new bedroom!

I'm mostly excited about the washer and dryer part. Anyone who has had to deal with Laundry mats knows what I'm talking about. They suck big time and I'll be so happy to never have to go back to one!(knock on wood).

Our new place is not all roses and sunshine though. My commute to work will be a few minutes longer ( as if 45min wasn't long enough already). And, we will be living with Robbie! Ha ha totally just kidding Robbie! I'm excited to live with you (as long as you let me hold the remote when we watch TV)! We also have to move wards. I had my last young women's activity in the Simi Second Ward, and it made me really sad. At first my calling scared me big time, but now I really enjoy it. And I love my Mia Maids. They are really amazing girls and I love spending time with them.

I'm also getting sad about leaving our current place. As small as it is, it was still "ours" and we had a lot of good times there.

But all and all the pros out way the cons on this one. You can't beat your own washer and dyrer. Or dishwasher. Yay!

" Hard" Hat

For anyone who read my previous post and thinks I am a serious and inteligent person...you are about to think differently.

For my Halloween costume I bought a Hard Hat (I'm not telling you what I'm going to be, but if you can probably figure it out)

I got home last night, eager to see how ridiculous I was going to look in my new hat and started to assemble. Ok they don't require that much assembly, but you need to size the inside part and then attach it to the hat shell.

So I'm messing with it for a few minutes, trying to get the fitted part to click into the shell ( anyone who has actually worn a hard hat will know what I'm talking about)

A half an hour goes by and I've tried to get the adjustment to fit in the shell everyway possible, and still have had no success. It just wouldn't fit right. I read the instructions again and kept trying.

An hour goes by and I still can't get it to fit. What the heck? Either I'm super retarded or hard hats are a lot " harder " to assemble than they look. I assuming the retarded option. I must be missing something, but for the life of me I coudn't get it to work. I finally set the hat down, and tried to do something productive, like pack considering we are moving in 2 days. I packed for about 2 minutes and was back to the hat.

Adjusting, fiddling, cursing...well not really cursing ( out loud anyway)
Still! No luck. I finally admitted defeat. I'm hoping that my hat is faulty or something and that I'm not just seriously challenged. We'll find out when Jimmy gives it a go...

Score:
Hard Hat-1
Me-0

Flipped Off, Yelled at and Boo'd

I know this topic is going to be a sort of serious one for a first post, but it's been on my mind since Saturday so I thought I'd get it off my chest.

For those of you who don't live in California, you are lucky! Well atleast in some sense. We have this huge Prop 8 debate going on right now ( Prop 8 would put an ammendment into the state constitution against gay marriage). Election day is right around the corner, and oh man will I be glad when this is over.

The LDS Church is taking an active part in making sure this Prop gets passed, so our ward has asked us repeatedly to help. They went walking door to door, are calling people, and most recently have been waving " Prop 8" signs on street corners.

I've managed to avoid taking part in all of this ( I'll explain why in a minute) until last weekend. Jimmy and I were asked to waive signs on the corner, and with no excuse coming to mind, I agreed.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am petrified of confrontation. Like to a fault. I will do just about anything to avoid upsetting someone. So for me to stand on a corner and waive a sign that would most definately upset people was not a pleasant thought.

So on Saturday afternoon Jimmy and I took to our corner, signs in hand. At first I thought "Wow this isn't that bad! It feels good to get involved" We had plenty of people honking and giving us thumbs up which was nice.

However, as our time on the corner progressed, we got a few more opposite reactions. People flipped us off, boo'd us, gaves us thumbs down, etc. So that wasn't too bad. Then, we had people start yelling at us as they drove by. I felt horribly uncomfortable, but held my sign up strong ( with the help of Jimmy's "subtle" encouragment). The whole experience was not all bad. It did feel good to offer some help in such an important issue.

But what people yelled at us really ruffled my feathers, and it still bothers me. We had more than a couple of people call us " Biggots". Biggots? Are you kidding me? I consider myself one the most un biggoted people I know. How dare someone who doesnt' know me at all call me such an offensive name.

I do realize that most people who want Prop 8 to pass are either
A. Christian or
B. Homophobes.

I hate the idea of beng rolled in with the Homophobes because I am by no means one. I guess people driving by have no way of identifying which group ( A or B) we belong to. But I think that is a piss poor excuse to shout offensive names at someone.

Further more, if I saw someone holding a " No on Prop 8" sign, I would never even dream of calling them names or flipping them off. Or boo'ing them. They have just as much right to hold thier sign as I do to hold mine.

So why are these people who are preaching " tolerance" so untolerant of others peacefully supporting thier cause?

I could probably just keep going on this one. As you can see, I don't take what people say to me lightly. I wish I could sometimes, but I'm a sensitive and emotional person.